Cambriae Typus, the "model image of Wales", is the earliest published map of Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 as a separate region from the rest of Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

. Made by Elizabethan polymath Humphrey Llwyd in 1573, the map shows Wales stretching to the River Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

, including large areas of what is now England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Publication

Humphrey Llwyd (1527-1568), a Welsh historian, physician and politician, though not a professional surveyor, began work on the Cambriae Typus late in his life. In a letter shortly before his death he sent the manuscript of the map to Abraham Ortelius

Abraham Ortelius

thumb|250px|Abraham Ortelius by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]Abraham Ortelius thumb|250px|Abraham Ortelius by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]Abraham Ortelius (Abraham Ortels) thumb|250px|Abraham Ortelius by [[Peter Paul Rubens]]Abraham Ortelius (Abraham Ortels) (April 14, 1527 – June 28,exile in England to take...

, who published it in the 1573 Additamentum to the 1570 publication of Theatrum Orbis Terrarum

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum

Theatrum Orbis Terrarum is considered to be the first true modern atlas. Written by Abraham Ortelius and originally printed on May 20, 1570, in Antwerp, it consisted of a collection of uniform map sheets and sustaining text bound to form a book for which copper printing plates were specifically...

. The map was titled Cambriae Typus. The map of Wales appeared alongside a joint map of Wales and England, also by Llwyd. Cambriae Typus was subsequently revised and used in the Mercator

Gerardus Mercator

thumb|right|200px|Gerardus MercatorGerardus Mercator was a cartographer, born in Rupelmonde in the Hapsburg County of Flanders, part of the Holy Roman Empire. He is remembered for the Mercator projection world map, which is named after him...

 atlas of 1607 and in later atlases.

Specifications

The original four-sheet manuscript of the map has now been lost, but original prints from Theatrum Orbis Terrarum still survive. Although often described as a 1573 publication, the National Library of Wales

National Library of Wales

The National Library of Wales , Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales; one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies.Welsh is its main medium of communication...

, which owns an original print of the map, place a tentative date of 1574 to the work. The original print of the map was 47.2 by 34.7cm, using Ortelius typeface. The scale was set at ca.1:520,000.

Features

Cambriae Typus is the first printed map to show Wales as a separate region. The map itself is a weak representation of the country, even for its time, with multiple inaccuracies that did not exist in contemporary maps. It has been suggested that the poor delineation of the coastline may be due to a mistake made by Ortelius in transferring the original or that Llwyd had based the original on an earlier inaccurate map.

Location names on the front of the map are given in Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

, English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 and Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

, while the back side contains the equivalent text in German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

. Various features depicted on the map include a divider caliper in the lower left-hand corner, a cartouche

Cartouche (cartography)

A cartouche in cartography is a decorative emblem on a globe or map.Map cartouches may contain the title, the printer's address, date of publication, the scale of the map and legends, and sometimes a dedication....

, a sailing ship in Cardigan Bay

Cardigan Bay

Cardigan Bay is a large inlet of the Irish Sea, indenting the west coast of Wales between Bardsey Island, Gwynedd in the north, and Strumble Head, Pembrokeshire at its southern end. It is the largest bay in Wales....

, as well as a sea monster

Sea monster

Sea monsters are sea-dwelling mythical or legendary creatures, often believed to be of immense size.Marine monsters can take many forms, including sea dragons, sea serpents, or multi-armed beasts. They can be slimy or scaly and are often pictured threatening ships or spouting jets of water...

 in the Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

 off the coast of Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....

. The map has a decorative border, while the colouring is mostly olive and green, with touches of brown and red.

In total five revisions were made to Llwyd's map, including a copper etching by Peter Kaerius, published by Jodocus Hondius

Jodocus Hondius

Jodocus Hondius , sometimes called Jodocus Hondius the Elder to distinguish him from his son Henricus Hondius II, was a Flemish artist, engraver, and cartographer...

in 1603. This version retained the original features of the map, but the additional graphics were changed. In the 1603 print the dividers were replaced by a quarter compass radiating lines out across the Irish Sea, the cartouche was enlarged and the colouring changed; while the original ship and seas monster were removed and replaced by two different versions of each. A 1612 version had a stronger more defined coastal outline based on the original, with a further edition using the same improved coastal outline on Hondius' map.

The map shows Wales stretching to the River Severn, land which is now part of England. This was because Llwyd was making a cultural and historical map, rather than one that showed the political situation of the time.